Stacy Kern-Scheerer
Director of Clinical Programs; Director, Immigration Clinic; Clinical Associate Professor of Law
Email: [[sekernscheerer]]
Office phone: (757) 221-1460
Office location: Room 194
Representative Professional Activities and Achievements
Professor Kern-Scheerer is a magna cum laude graduate of Boston University School of Law. While in law school, she served as Executive Editor of the American Journal of Law & Medicine. She earned her Master of Public Health from Boston University School of Public Health, where she was the Health Law, Bioethics, and Human Rights Fellow. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Beloit College, where she received her B.A., magna cum laude, in Sociology and French.
As the founding Director of the Immigration Clinic, Professor Kern-Scheerer trains and supervises Clinic students, representing noncitizens in the greater Hampton Roads community seeking humanitarian forms of relief. She, and the students under her supervision, represent immigrant victims of crime, domestic violence, and human trafficking, as well as immigrants seeking asylum and individuals applying for naturalization. Outside the Immigration Clinic, Professor Kern-Scheerer has taught many courses, including Immigration Law, Legal Writing, and Health Law & Policy. She has also served as the Assistant Director of the Legal Practice Program
Previously in her legal career, Professor Kern-Scheerer served as Assistant Counsel in the U.S. Senate Office of the Legislative Counsel. As Assistant Counsel, she specialized in drafting legislation for Senators and Senate Committees on matters of Federal public health law and policy. She drafted numerous provisions of enacted law in her role as a nonpartisan legislative writer and counsel.
Professor Kern-Scheerer has twice been awarded a "Golden Gavel" by the W&M Law School Honor Council for her contributions and commitment to the law school community. In 2018-19, she served as the Kelly Professor for Teaching Excellence and in 2019 she received the Law School’s McGlothlin Faculty Teaching Award. She was chosen by both the Class of 2017 and the Class of 2021 as the recipient of the Walter L. Williams, Jr. Memorial Teaching Award. In 2023, she received the College’s Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award.
Outside of the Law School, Professor Kern-Scheerer is active in the Williamsburg community. She was elected to the Williamsburg City Council in November 2022, and took office for a four-year term beginning in January 2023.